Hardware - Large Format

The fully integrated, end-to-end marketing communications solutions provider from Aylesford, Kent, specialises in Point of Sale and Point of Purchase. The investment was part of a £325,000 company-wide spend supporting a full refresh of its customer-centric approach.

Managing Director Mike Saunders, who established the company 10 years ago, said: “Last November we launched our online ordering service for clients. Using their PCs or their mobile phones they can order point of sale, no matter where they are, for next day delivery. This makes their lives easier and helps ensure consistency. It gives them clarity on on their stock levels and ordering volumes.” Clients are able to effectively control cost centres and their budgets.

It soon became clear that there was a need to fully support this service, and Imagink’s broader production, with a hardware investment, said Saunders. “We were becoming non competitive on longer runs purely on speed. We could compete on costs but not on time.”

“We went to Durst’s Austrian headquarters where we ran the press for three hours. The tests I did were based on quality – not just speed but quality at whatever speeds were run. The Durst Rho P10 200 6c + W in terms of speed and quality was far better than I expected.”

As for the impact the Durst Rho P10 200 6c + W has made Saunders says: “We have a regular job that took three-and-a-half days on two systems and the Durst completed it in one shift. It has quadrupled our capacity. Now we can do everything on a single shift which has made savings on our overtime wage. Our wage expenditure is down between 10% and 15% and we have taken on two additional sales staff.”

He adds: “It has exceeded my expectations. It is far superior than I first thought. I was surprised at its ease of use and the quick set up times. We can now offer the faster turnaround times our competitors offer. It is difficult to put a figure on return on investment but it has positively impacted our speed, quality and the range of sizes we can offer.” We can now print from business cards to a size of 2m x 4m (if available in the size), in one piece and up to 10mm in thickness.

One of the added benefits of the Durst Rho P10 200 6c + W was the white ink and that enabled Imagink to win work from the outset. “We had three roll-fed solutions with white ink and the Durst was our only flatbed solution offering the white ink so we have been picking up additional work due to quality on the white opaqueness,” says Saunders. “It has been a good asset to have.”

He concludes: “In terms of the installation it was probably the least problematic install we have ever had.”

Peter Bray, Managing Director of Durst in the UK and Ireland, said: “With extremely tight deadlines, companies such as Imagink rely on Durst technology to produce reliable, high volume and extremely high quality products that we’re delighted to be supplying to help businesses grow.”